Podcast Summary: The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström® - Episode #719: Composable Customer Data Platforms with Tejas Manohar, Hightouch

Introduction

In Episode #719 of The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®, host Greg Kihlström engages in an insightful conversation with Tejas Manohar, co-CEO and co-founder of Hightouch. The discussion centers around the evolving landscape of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), particularly focusing on the emergence of composable CDPs and the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing customer lifetime value (CLV). This episode delves into how modern marketers can leverage flexible data architectures and AI-driven decision-making to foster personalization, improve customer experiences, and drive business growth.

Understanding Composable Customer Data Platforms

Defining Composable CDPs vs. Traditional CDPs

Tejas Manohar begins by elucidating the concept of a Composable CDP, highlighting its foundational differences from traditional CDPs. Traditional CDPs, such as Segment (now owned by Twilio), primarily focus on aggregating all customer data into a unified profile through identity resolution, enabling marketers to activate this data for personalized campaigns across various channels.

Key Quote:

“Composable CDP means that we can just tap directly into all those technologies, get the data from all those places, and help you, as a marketer, start using it way faster and with way more data than you'd have in the traditional CDP route.”
— Tejas Manohar [06:32]

Advantages of Composable CDPs:

1. Flexibility and Control: Unlike traditional CDPs that require data translation into specific formats (e.g., Segment or Salesforce), composable CDPs allow marketers to utilize their existing data infrastructure without extensive IT involvement.

2. Faster Deployment: Traditional data migration projects can span 6 to 18 months, often stalling in large enterprises. Composable CDPs significantly reduce this timeline by leveraging pre-existing data storage systems like Snowflake, Databricks, Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure.

3. Rich Data Utilization: Composable CDPs enable access to a broader spectrum of data beyond basic user profiles and events. For example, PetSmart can incorporate pet-specific data such as breed preferences and grooming habits, enhancing the depth of customer insights.

Benefits to Marketers: Enhanced Agility and Personalization

Overcoming Traditional CDP Challenges

Traditional CDPs often fall short in large organizations due to the complexities of integrating diverse data sources. Tejas emphasizes that composable CDPs address these challenges by seamlessly connecting with existing data repositories, thereby providing marketers with a more comprehensive and actionable data pool.

Key Quote:

“Hitouch is a composable CDP that has the same goal [as traditional CDPs]. The difference is that we can sit directly on top of all of the data that your company already has.”
— Tejas Manohar [03:49]

Impact on Marketing Operations:

1. Accelerated Audience Building: Marketers can swiftly create detailed customer segments without waiting for prolonged IT projects, enabling more timely and relevant campaign executions.

2. Enhanced Personalization: With access to richer data sets, marketers can craft highly personalized campaigns that resonate with individual customer preferences and behaviors, leading to increased engagement and conversion rates.

3. Scalability: Composable CDPs allow for greater scalability in data management and campaign execution, supporting the needs of large and complex enterprises.

AI Decisioning: Revolutionizing Marketing Strategies

Introduction to AI Decisioning

Beyond data integration, Hightouch introduces its AI Decisioning product, designed to optimize the delivery of personalized content across customer interactions. This tool leverages machine learning (ML) and AI to determine the most effective content to send to each customer, enhancing the precision and impact of marketing efforts.

Key Quote:

“Using AI decisioning, you get really rich insights like the ones I just mentioned and more automatically out of the box.”
— Tejas Manohar [22:19]

Functionality and Benefits:

1. Automated Experimentation: AI Decisioning conducts numerous experiments to identify the optimal content for each customer, eliminating the need for manual A/B testing and reducing the time and resources required for campaign optimization.

2. Goal-Oriented Campaigns: Marketers can set specific business objectives (e.g., app downloads, loyalty activations) and let the AI determine the best content and channels to achieve these goals.

3. Scalable Personalization: The platform can manage complex decision trees and large-scale data, ensuring consistent and personalized customer interactions across all touchpoints.

Case Study: PetSmart

Tejas shares how PetSmart leverages Hightouch to send personalized campaigns, such as notifying customers about their pet’s birthday or grooming preferences. This level of personalization not only enhances customer satisfaction but also drives incremental bookings to grooming salons by 10-20%, demonstrating the tangible benefits of AI-driven marketing.

Transforming the Role of Marketers: From Tactics to Strategy

Empowering Marketers with AI Tools

The integration of composable CDPs and AI Decisioning shifts the marketer’s role from executing tedious, manual tasks to focusing on strategic initiatives. By automating data management and content optimization, marketers can dedicate more time to understanding customer needs and devising innovative strategies to engage them effectively.

Key Quote:

“It changes the workflow to be less about the technical tactics oftentimes and more about what brought us the industry in the first place, which is marketing strategy and really understanding our customers.”
— Tejas Manohar [22:19]

Elevating Strategic Focus:

1. Insight-Driven Decision Making: AI provides deep insights into customer behavior and campaign performance, enabling marketers to make informed strategic decisions.

2. Enhanced Creativity: With routine tasks automated, marketers can channel their creativity into developing unique campaigns and exploring new avenues for customer engagement.

3. Resource Optimization: AI tools help maximize the efficiency of marketing teams, allowing them to achieve more with the same or fewer resources.

Maintaining Agility: Strategies for Success

Continuous Reflection and Feedback

Tejas emphasizes the importance of agility in today’s fast-paced marketing environment. He shares his personal strategy for staying agile, which involves daily reflection on successes and areas for improvement. This practice fosters a culture of continuous learning and adaptability within the team.

Key Quote:

“I try to reflect every day. What's gone well today, what went too slowly... bring that feedback back to the team or myself at a really high cadence.”
— Tejas Manohar [24:42]

Agility Practices:

1. Regular Feedback Loops: Establishing frequent check-ins and reflections to assess progress and identify bottlenecks.

2. Adaptive Planning: Being willing to pivot strategies based on real-time data and insights provided by AI tools.

3. Team Collaboration: Encouraging open communication and collaboration within marketing teams to swiftly address challenges and seize new opportunities.

Conclusion

Episode #719 of The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström® offers a comprehensive exploration of composable Customer Data Platforms and the transformative role of AI in modern marketing. Through the expertise of Tejas Manohar, listeners gain valuable insights into how flexible data architectures and AI-driven decision-making can enhance personalization, drive customer lifetime value, and empower marketers to focus on strategic growth. As the marketing technology landscape continues to evolve, embracing these innovations is crucial for brands aiming to build agile and customer-centric strategies for sustained business success.

About the Hosts and Guest

• Host: Greg Kihlström, a martech and AI transformation advisor, consultant to leading brands, speaker, entrepreneur, and best-selling author.

• Guest: Tejas Manohar, co-CEO and co-founder of Hightouch, a company specializing in composable CDPs and AI-driven marketing solutions.

Stay Connected

For more insights and episodes, visit The Agile Brand. To learn more about Hightouch, follow the links provided in the show notes.